Heart Waves (14 page)

“Can we talk for a few minutes?” he asked.

I nodded and took a seat on the steps.

Mike preferred to stand. He went down the steps and stood on the ground leaning against the house, one leg on the bottom step.

“I know it was a long time ago, but we were friends once.”

“I remember,” I nodded.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea anything I did hurt you.” He shook his head and let out a deep breath. “The same idiot that convinced me not to be your friend when we were kids, took one look at you in high school, and thought you were the hottest girl he’d ever seen. You probably were. He wanted to ask you out. It bothered me, really bothered me. I thought it was so unfair.”

“Mike, it’s in the past.”

“Please.” He held a hand up to stop me from speaking. “I have to do this. I didn’t know.” His eyes looked pained. “I didn’t want you to go out with him. Not when I lost so much time with you. He misunderstood what I said. I didn’t want to clear it up. I didn’t want him to have a chance with you. Things just got out of hand. It spiraled out of control, and even at the time, I felt terrible.”

“But you never tried to change it.”

“I was too scared, I guess.” He looked down at his hands. He played with his fingers. “If I knew anyone tried to push you or pressure you,” he paused at a loss for words. “I would’ve kicked their asses. I never meant for you to get hurt.” His voice cracked. “I really am sorry. I know that doesn’t change anything. I just need for you to know that.”

“What is it you want, Mike? You want me to forgive you?” I snapped.

He shook his head. “I don’t expect you to forgive me.” He turned and took a step away from me toward the gate.

“Good, because I won’t.”
He turned back to look at me, “But since you’re with my friend and I’m with yours, I think we could try to get along.”

In the morning I found Reece waiting on my top porch step with a big smile. On the short drive over to the library, we discussed the days and times he worked. I planned to coordinate my volunteer time around Reece’s schedule so I wouldn’t lose one moment with him.

As I met with Nora, the head of the children’s department, Reece waited patiently, browsing. Nora looked exactly as I imagined a librarian should. Somewhere in her mid to late forties, her long brown hair and glasses made her look mousy. If she wore makeup, it was simple and natural.

I couldn’t tell yet if I liked her or not. She seemed all business, explaining how, while grateful for my generous offer, the work was important and needed to be taken seriously.

I can’t blame her for being suspicious, most of the teens came in to volunteer long before school finished, and here I was in the middle of July. Plus, they did cool things, like work with the younger children as reading or math buddies. I would be there during the day, losing my mind as I monotonously restocked the shelves and set up for the children’s programs.

Before leaving, Reece checked out a couple of books. I hadn’t paid much attention to them until we got in the car and he handed one to me.

“Thought you might like it,” he smirked.

I don’t know what I expected, but a book about developing my psychic abilities and keeping my energy pure, wasn’t on the radar.

“Thanks? Is this what you read for fun?”

“Ha.” He smirked. “Since you’re the local entertainment, I thought this might help you keep those headaches at bay.”

Surprised he remembered about the headaches, I smiled. “I only did the readings at Mike’s to pass the time. I don’t like doing them
usually,
it kind of makes me feel uncomfortable.”

“Why are you uncomfortable?” he reached for my hand. “You’re the one who can see beyond the façade, I think that would make the person getting the reading uneasy.”

“What did it do to you?”

Reece took a deep breath. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something and then stopped. I was getting used to his habit of thinking before speaking. “Promise you won’t laugh?”

I nodded.

He hesitated, “One look in your big blue eyes and I heard these words in my head. Your reading was so similar I knew it had to be true.”

He spoke in riddles and I wasn’t certain of the meaning, but sat captivated.

“What words?” I asked with my curiosity peeked.

“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! 
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”

I stared with my mouth open. I knew those lines. Shakespeare. I hadn’t seen or heard them since my Theatrical Literature class, but I knew full well where they were from.
Romeo and Juliet.
And then the words I spoke that night echoed through my mind.

You’re going to break my heart.

Thanks, Reece, for reminding me. I found it difficult to swallow before answering him. “You’re so full of it.”

He shook his head. “It’s true. As you spoke I knew. You are my Juliet.”

Reece parked outside Mike’s house. After the library we went to a movie and grabbed a quick bite.

“I’m going to spend some time home tonight,” he said squeezing my hand.

“Home?”
I asked feeling bummed. “The guys are probably riding you pretty hard about spending all your time with me.”

Again he nodded. “They are. But I meant home.  I can handle the
guys
fine, but my mother is another story.”

I smiled trying to stifle my disappointment.

“I’ll talk to you later.” He leaned in and pulled me to him for a goodbye kiss. Long before I could get my fill he broke away. He always seemed better at that than me.

I went inside my house and wondered what to do. After a quick shower I picked the book he gave me off my bed. I thumbed through it, glimpsing at the chapter titles.
Prereading
.
My English teachers would be proud.  

I never read anything like this before. It made me a little uneasy, but I delved right in. The opening spoke about different types of
psychic powers: Channeling, communicating with spirits; clairaudience
- the ability to hear things outside the range of normal perception; clairvoyance - the ability to see objects or events that cannot be perceived by the senses; and clairsentience - the ability to hold an object or touch someone and sense the energy surrounding that person, place or thing. I paid extra special attention to this part, since it described me perfectly.

As I continued into the next chapter, I followed the directions as I read. I didn’t even know what a chakra was and now I was chanting to open the third eye chakra. Not until I got to the end of the chapter did it mention the side effects to what I’d just done.
Headaches.
Wonderful.
 

I read further, aware of the need to read an entire chapter before trying anything in the book. I felt my eyes getting heavy. The last thing I remember was reading about positive forces and the light versus the negative dark energy and how easy it is to
attract the latter. I shut the book and lay down with my eyes closed replaying the day with Reece.

Reece was everything I could want and then some. He even seemed to be embracing the part of me I kept hidden, afraid of ridicule. But hearing him quote Romeo and Juliet bothered me more than it would any rational person. It magnified that bottom-dropping-out-of-my-stomach feeling.  

I yawned and only after I opened my eyes did I realize I fell asleep. I looked over at the clock on my night table. Six o’clock.  I almost never napped during the day. Most of the
time
I need complete darkness to sleep.

I called out to my mother, only lingering silence answered. I looked out my window for her car.  The driveway was empty. I couldn’t help looking in the street for Reece’s car. I felt like a huge gaping hole had been punched in my chest. Another car parked in the spot he had when we returned. How could I miss him already?

In an attempt to keep busy and keep my mind from dwelling on the fact I wasn’t with him and our time together was limited, only I had no idea how limited, I went downstairs and began pulling out the previous night’s leftovers. I planned to surprise my mother who should’ve been home at five thirty, by getting dinner started.

My cell phone beeped.
A message.
I rushed to check it, adrenaline pumping through my body. I felt a wave of disappointment, Grace. Not Reece.

She and Mike had plans. Were Reece and I interested in joining them? I rolled my eyes. Like that went over so well the previous night. I replied, asking if she would stop here before going to Mike’s.

All I needed was a little girl time. I’d tell her the whole story beginning with my initial reading of Reece’s ring and get her opinion. She had much more experience with guys and she was down to earth. She wouldn’t steer me in the wrong direction.

*                       *                       *

I cleared the food from my plate into the garbage pail when the doorbell rang. Grace sat at the kitchen table and listened to my parents go on about the terrible car accident and hours of traffic they hit on their way home. I rolled my eyes as I cleared the rest of the food and dishes, then grabbed Grace by the hand and led her up to my room.

“I knew you held out on me,” her eyes were wide with surprise. “I slept here, in this very room that first night, and you insisted nothing happened.”

“Nothing did happen. Besides you were all cozy with Mike, and you can understand why I had a problem with that,” I felt the need to defend myself. “But the bigger problem is what do I do now?”

She shook her head, “You want a lollipop?” she asked.

I looked at her confused, without a clue of what she was getting at. “What?” I asked mildly annoyed.

“You are such a sucker!”

I could always count on Grace to be brutally honesty.
At least the brutal part.

“Did he tell you your eyes shine like the stars too?” she asked in a mocking tone.

“I get your point, but why didn’t he use those lines when I wouldn’t go out with him? That’s the part that bothers me.”

She shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t have a chance to leaf through Romeo and Juliet before today. You did say you were at the library.”

I shook my head, “I don’t think that’s it.”

“OMG, listen to yourself! You met a guy who is incredibly hot, you’re totally into him.  You built up this huge romance in your mind and he’s playing along, that’s all.” She dismissed my concerns. “You’re freaking out and blowing this all out of proportion.”

“Come on Grace, you don’t believe that any more than I do.”

“Jenna, you’re obsessing over nothing. You sound borderline psychotic and
OCDish
.”

I sat quietly letting her words sink in. Okay, I could see her point, sort of. “You know it’s more than that.”

“Is he a good kisser? He looks like he’d be great in bed.”

I felt my face turn red with embarrassment. “Grace!”

She picked a pillow off my bed and hugged it. “Throw me a bone here. I’ve been waiting for so long for you to finally show a real interest in someone so we could talk, really talk.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, wishing I could make myself smaller. “I’m not that bad.”

“Honestly, I’m glad you’re just a late bloomer. I thought you were going to join an occult and shave your head.” She smiled. “Thank goodness you didn’t. I’d lose my mind if all of a sudden I couldn’t talk to you because you took a vow of silence or something.”
             

“Please.” I rolled my eyes. “You’d still be able to talk. I just wouldn’t be able to answer, much like we’ve been doing for the last couple of weeks anyway.”

“The thing is this, Jenna,” she took on a serious look and tone of voice, “you need to find a way to relax and just go with the flow. He offered to take it slow,
then
do that.”

“I am.”

“And if he wants to be your soul mate, your one true love and open doors for you and come to your rescue, or recite beautiful poetry to you, let him, because guys like that are few and far between.”

It was the twinkle in Reece’s eyes that gave him away. I knew he had something special planned the instant I saw him. He picked me up at the library as usual, but finding Mike and Grace in the backseat was a surprise.